Authors instructions

Gaceta Médica de México (GMM) is the official publication of the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico (Academia Nacional de Medicina de México A.C. [ANMM]). It is an open space for researchers and members of the scientific community who express their interest in using this forum to disseminate their research.

The journal publishes original research material that has neither been published, nor is it under editorial consideration in its entirety or in its essential part with any other print or electronic publication media.

GMM is published bimonthly (six issues per year), in electronic format with open access (free for authors and readers). All papers submitted for publication must strictly adhere to the standards and formats described below and will be subject to double-blind review by peers and editors’ review to determine their acceptance.

Articles may be sent in English or Spanish. All articles in Spanish accepted for publication will be translated into English to be published online simultaneously as a PDF file for free. Manuscript publication does not require APC payment.

Should the manuscript had been previously published as a preprint, you must inform it in your application letter.

The journal adheres to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals, in the most recent version published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors on http://www.icmje.org

 

PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS

The main purpose of GMM is to publish original work from the broad field of medicine, as well as to provide updated and relevant information for the healthcare area.

For this purpose, the journal will consider contributions in the following sections:

- Editorial (upon invitation by the Editorial Committee). This section will be dedicated to the analysis and reflection on public healthcare issues, the different preventive and therapeutic approaches, as well as the advances achieved in the field. The suggested length is 1,500 to 2,000 words, with a maximum of five bibliographical references.

- Original article. Its content presents the results of original biomedical, clinical, surgical or epidemiological research. The written document will have a maximum length of 3,000 words (not including bibliographic references), 6 figures, 6 tables and 50 references, and it must adhere to the instructions to the authors.

- Review article. (upon invitation by the Editorial Committee). It will be written by experts, and it should acknowledge a current topic of medical relevance, surgical or epidemiological, which contributes with the experiences of the author and his research group, defines and clarifies a health issue, makes useful additions, highlights the perspective in the field and makes relevant proposals on the subject. The main or corresponding author must be an authority in the area being reviewed.  In the event that the author self-proposes to submit a review article, they must attach a bibliographic list of their contributions on the topic (this list will not be required for authors invited by the editorial committee). The sections and subtitles will be according to the author's criteria. The maximum length of the text will be 3,500 words it does not include bibliographical references. A summary must be included in Spanish and in English (maximum 200 words for each), in free format and the illustrations will be strictly necessary. It may contain a maximum of 2 tables and 2 figures, the bibliography must be sufficient and appropriate and as described above. It is recommended 40 to 60 citations are included for this type of article, out of which 75% should not be older than 5 years.

- Brief communication or scientific letters. The articles to be published will be works within the wide field of medicine and healthcare, unpublished originals derived from the author's own knowledge, or observations or a series of short cases, as well as contributions of interest to the ANMM. The written document will have a maximum length of 850 words and the text will not be structured into sections. Two figures or tables will be accepted. The bibliography should not exceed 10 references. Scientific letters will not be accompanied by an abstract. The maximum number of authors will be 5.

- Letter to the editor. It is an open forum for the expression of opinions regarding the content of the articles published in Gaceta Médica de México. Length of 500 words (maximum) including bibliographical references (maximum 3 references). Should the letter receive a comment or reply by an author mentioned in it, the Editors will publish it simultaneously.

- Public Health and Medical Sociology. It includes topics on Healthcare Management, Bioethics, Medical Demography, Medical Ecology, Health Education, Epidemiology, History and Philosophy of Medicine, Social Medicine, and Public Health. The manuscript must follow the guidelines of the corresponding type of article.

Manuscripts must be sent through the journal's electronic editorial system at the electronic address: http://publisher.gacetamedicademexico.permanyer.com where, firstly, the corresponding author must register as an author. Once you have a username and password, you can upload your files to the system by following the instructions.

**To avoid duplications in the system, please refrain from creating a new request when resubmitting your modified files. You should continue using the same reference until your manuscript completes the editorial process.

All manuscripts must contain the following information:

1. Cover letter. The submitted papers must be accompanied by a letter signed by all the authors of the paper, stating that it has not been published previously, nor has it been simultaneously submitted to another journal, that there is no conflict of interests, and that the copyright will be transferred to the Gaceta Médica de México in case of acceptance for publication. You must explicitly specify the collaboration of each of the research participants. If you are a member of the Academia Nacional de Medicina de México, please mention it in your letter.

The authors must confirm or clarify any of the following assumptions, as appropriate, in the ethical disclosures section:

- The authors declare that they have not used any type of generative artificial intelligence for the writing of this manuscript, nor for the creation of table captions and/or figure legends.

- The authors declare that they have used generative artificial intelligence, specifically (name of the AI in question) in the writing of this manuscript and/or in the creation of table captions and/or or figure legends.

Download the letter template here.
 

2. Front page.

a) Personal data of the authors: name(s) and surname(s) of each author (without titles or roles). Including the ORCID identifier is highly recommended.

b) Current institution: institutional departments to which they are affiliated, name and current address of the author responsible for correspondence.

c) Corresponding author: name and current address of the author responsible for the correspondence. Authors are advised to carefully review the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript for the first time. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names must be made before the manuscript has been accepted and only with the approval of the journal’s Editor. To request this change, the corresponding author will send to the attention of the Editor: a) the reason justifying the request to modify the list of authors; and b) written confirmation (whether by email or by letter) from all the authors stating their agreement with the addition, deletion or rearrangement. In the case of the incorporation or deletion of an author, the confirmation of the affected author must also be included.
 

The Editor will take into consideration the incorporation, deletion, or rearrangement of authors in manuscript that has already been accepted, and only under exceptional circumstances.

The publication of the article will stop while the Editor evaluates the request for changes. If the manuscript was already published in an online version, any change request approved by the Editor would give rise to a corrigendum.

3. Title. It must reflect the content of the manuscript, maximum 30 words, do not use abbreviations. It must contain a short title of 40 characters (including spaces). You must specify 3 to 6 keywords that identify the main area(s) of your research, to facilitate the inclusion in international indexes. The use of the terms from the most recent Medical Subject Headings of the Index Medicus is recommended. 

4. Abstract. It must be presented in Spanish and in English. It should have a maximum of 200 words and indicate the purpose of the investigation, the basic procedures (selection of the sample, analytical, and observational methods), main findings (specific data and, if possible, their statistical significance), as well as the relevant conclusions and the originality of the research. The abstract must be structured with the following sections: Background, Objective, Material Methods, Results and Conclusions.

5. Text. The main file of the manuscript must be completely anonymous.

6. Tables and figures

- Tables: they must be typed in double space, numbered consecutively with Arabic characters in the order in which they are cited within the text, with the titles at the top and the meaning of the abbreviations, as well as the explanatory notes at the foot. They should be included at the end of the manuscript after the references section.

- Figures or graphs: figure captions will be typed in double space. The caption will contain the necessary information to correctly interpret the figure without resorting to the text. They must be referenced in the text in consecutive order. Quality: graphics, layouts and drawings must be generated with high resolution graphic programs (JPG, TIFF, EPS, PowerPoint and Illustrator). You can submit the original PowerPoint or Excel file, if you made the image in them. If you create them with programs like Stata, SPSS, Graph, Visio, Mindomo, etc., export directly to PDF.

- All the iconography must be original. Otherwise, the source reference must be cited, and the author must obtain prior permission from the respective publisher. Data already written in the text will not be repeated in the figures. Object photographs will include a ruler to calibrate the reference measurements. In the photomicrographs the microscopic magnification or a reference micron bar should appear. The name, face, patient data or any recognizable features will not appear on the figures. Authors are suggested to add color illustrations that adequately decorate the text.
 

7. Bibliographic references. They will be presented in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (International Committee of Biomedical Journal Editors). The references will be indicated consecutively, with Arabic numbers, and in the order in which they appear for the first time in the text. They will be referred to in the text, tables, and figure captions with the corresponding numbers. In citations with multiple authors (more than six), only the first 6 should be included, followed by et al., after the abbreviation of the name or names of the 6th author. In the case of 6 or fewer authors, all of them must be included in the citation. For more information, please consult the following link: (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html). 

8. Acknowledgments, financing and/or declaration of conflict of interest. The author must mention the organizations that financed their research, including the grant numbers if necessary. Authors must describe any financial or personal relationships they have with other people or organizations that could give rise to a conflict of interest in relation to the article being submitted for publication. In this section, the acknowledgments to individuals and institutions may be described.

To promote the transparency and quality of the research, the authors will be asked as an essential requirement to self-assess adherence to the relevant international guidelines according to the type of study:

– Clinical trials: CONSORT (http://www.consort-statement.org/). In addition, all trials must be registered in one of the international databases, and the corresponding registration number must always be indicated.

– Observational studies: STROBE (www.strobe-statement.org).

– Diagnostic tests: STARD (www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/stard/).

–  Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: PRISMA (https://www.prisma-statement.org/)

– Microarray experiments: MIAME (https://www.fged.org/projects/miame/)

– Biomedical research: FAIRSharing (https://fairsharing.org/)

– For other types of studies, consult the guidelines on the EQUATOR initiative (http://www.equator-network.org/).

 

Manuscripts must be correctly written in Spanish or English. The texts must be typed in Word processor. The text must be written in double-spaced, Times New Roman font 12 points, and each section should start on a new page. The pages will be numbered consecutively starting at the front page, and the number will be placed in the upper right corner of each page. If your native language is not English, proofreading by an experienced translator is recommended to guarantee its quality.

In the case of manuscripts that present results of biomedical, clinical, surgical or epidemiological research, the text must be divided into the following sections

a) Introduction: It must include the background, the statement of the problem, and the objective of the study in a free and continuous writing duly supported by the bibliography.

b) Material and methods: The characteristics of the sample and the methods used, with the pertinent references, will be clearly indicated in such a way that the reading of this section allows other researchers to carry out similar studies. The statistical methods used must be clearly stated with the corresponding reference.

The authors must detail the necessary ethical procedures or experiments with animals, patients, handling of confidential data, informed consent, etc... that they have followed, and they should have the authorization of the ethics committee at their institution (including committee and registration number).

Procedures in humans must comply with the ethical standards of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki) Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. JAMA 2000; 284:3043-5, as well as the agreement published in this regard by the Ministry of Health on January 26, 1982, and the Rules of the Ethics and Research Committee of the institution where the original work was carried out.

The editors may request a copy of the informed consent in the case of studies with patients and clinical cases. Regarding the confidentiality of the data, information must be provided on the way in which the anonymity of the participants and the privacy of their information have been protected. Animal studies should follow the appropriate guidelines (Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, National Research Council. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Washington, DC. National Academy Press. 1996).

You can download the format by accessing the following link: http://www.permanyer.com/formulario-responsabilidades/
 

The authors must comply with the requirements of the ARRIVE Guidelines for experimental studies in animals (https://arriveguidelines.org/sites/arrive/files/documents/ARRIVE%20guidelines%202010%20-%20Spanish.pdf), CONSORT for randomized trials (http://www.consort-statement.org/Media/Default/Downloads/Translations/Spanish_es/Spanish%20CONSORT%20Checklist.pdf), STROBE for observational studies (https://www.strobe-statement.org/checklists/) and PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses  (https://www.prisma-statement.org/), MIAME for microarray experiments (https://www.fged.org/projects/miame/), FAIRSharing for biomedical research (https://fairsharing.org/) and EQUATOR for other types of studies.

  

c) Results: It must include the important findings of the study, comparing them with the figures or graphs that are strictly necessary to the research, and which should add to the information provided in the text. Do not repeat data in the text and in the tables and/or figures.

d) Discussion: The results should be contrasted with what is reported in the literature and with the objectives and hypotheses proposed in the work.

e) Conclusions: In this section, the main conclusions of the study will be summarized and if these are preliminary, future studies that need to be carried out will be suggested. It is necessary that the conclusions are consistent with the objectives that were raised, and that they derive directly from the research process carried out.

 

For more information on the preparation of manuscripts, please consult: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/manuscript-preparation/preparing-for-submission.html

Articles will not be accepted for review if they are not prepared in accordance with the instructions to authors and will be automatically rejected. The opinions contained in the article are the responsibility of the authors.

 

EDITORIAL PROCESS

The editorial process consists of 6 stages:

1. Reception of the manuscript (indeterminate, depending on whether the author meets the requirements): its objective is to verify that the manuscript complies with the specifications of these instructions for authors and that the submitted documentation is complete.

2. Initial editorial review (maximum 5 business days): its objective is to corroborate the relevance, timeliness, originality, and scientific contribution of the manuscript, as well as the methodological and statistical soundness of the study. At this time, it will be submitted to an electronic plagiarism detection system. Derived from this, a rejected opinion may be obtained, or it will be sent for review by peer researchers.

3. Review by peer researchers (maximum 30 business days): the opinion of at least two experts in the area in question will be obtained, who will evaluate the technical and methodological aspects of the investigation.

4. Editorial review (maximum 7 business days): its objective is to make a decision based on the opinion of peer reviewers. The opinion can be rejected, major changes, minor changes or accepted. In the case of major or minor changes, it will be submitted again for evaluation by the initial peer reviewers.

5. Final edition (6 weeks): its objective is the technical and linguistic edition (and translation), layout of galleys, DOI assignment, and correction by the author.

6. Advanced publication: All manuscripts will be published ahead of print on the journal's website as soon as they complete the editing process, until they are incorporated into a final issue of the journal.

 

PRINT PROOFS (PDF) OF ACCEPTED ARTICLES 

The corresponding author will receive proofs of the article for revision and correction of terminology errors, or any other updates related to facts/figures. As the article will already have been edited according to the journal’s internal editorial guidelines, style corrections will not be accepted. The corresponding author will receive an email with the article in PDF format, on which they can leave their comments. Authors will need to have Adobe Reader (version 9, or a later version), downloadable for free). For other system requirements, please visit the Adobe website.

Alternatively, authors may list their corrections and submit them via email. Any major changes at this stage will be subject to the approval of the Editor. Authors should make sure to include all changes in a single email, as we cannot guarantee the inclusion of subsequent corrections.

The proof review is the responsibility of the author.

Relevant links

Committee on Publication Ethics. Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Responsibilities in the Submission and Peer-Review Process